Quote from hayman:
I'll certainly agree with you on the inheritance factor, but his inability to recognize what he inherited when he assumed his position is a BIG minus against him. I believe that his initial purchasing actions were justified, but I truly believe that he reached diminishing returns with this strategy a long time ago, and the stock market's ascension has masked what is going to be an overly large balance sheet that will not be able to be liquidated, and hyperinflation consequences - we're already feeling the pain of inflation, although the way the govt cooks the #'s and discounts the calculation of CPI, you'd think we have zero inflation.
It's bothered me that he was not a stronger voice during the Greenspan era. But than Greenspan did not seem to invite contrary opinions. And I agree he seemed to be asleep at the switch when he first took over. But then we are not privy to what was going through his mind at that point. Initially he seemed quite oblivious to the details of what was going on in the CDO markets, and appears to have been caught off guard by the CDS mess. But my impression is that he is now right on top of things. I find him to be a breath of fresh air compared to Greenspan's mumbo jumbo. Of the two, I think Bernanke is by far the better economist.